Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey Arbe..I really like the level of engineering and neat install..my OCD disorder for things being plumb, level, and right gives it the big thumbs up!!

Are the uniseals stocked locally or do you get them from the interweb??

RE: solids build up in the 90mm header pipe, I would just pull the endcap off periodically and flush the pipe.

@Zman - I have sent you a PM as I will need to reread the forum rules before I start mentioning where I got them from and prices.

@pyro monkey - I can certainly do that. The very last piece of the 90mm pipe is a joiner with a thread on it to which I have screwed on a cap. The uniseals have been sourced from the internet but given the ease of use I can see them becoming popular and perhaps BYAP could look at adding it to their product list.

The uniseals are good for sealing through curved tanks, barrel, pipes... and interconnecting small bins...

But looking at your grow bed delivery... I'm wondering if using pressure pipe and standard tee fittings and slip joints would have been cheaper and easier....

In terms of the growbed drainage... a standard 40mm plug and waste will incorporate either an overflow standpipe... or a siphon...

Simo

I implemented your over flow idea when I got home from work. I had just enough pipe and fittings for it.

I love it when you have one of those MacGuyver moments with left over plumbing parts

It is a very MacGuyver-ish solution as I am using cable ties to secure the 40mm pipe to the 90mm pipe.

Hi all. It's been a while since I have updated this thread.

Have had a very busy month or so with my day job which meant very little progress to my system.

Today has seen a great deal of progress made. All the plumbing has been completed, enough pea gravel has been washed to completely fill two beds and the third is partially filled. The rain is trying to start at the moment which would be nice if it can wash the remaining gravel for me. (word of advice to all: pay the extra and get Hydroton.)

I managed to get the pump running and started testing the siphons - have a few things to iron out with it now but ran out of light.

Will try and get pics tomorrow.

Water is finally flowing through the plumbing!



Two of the three growbeds have been completely filled with pea gravel. Ran out of seedlings half way through planting the second bed.

The growbed frames have been painted with a rust proof pain - Indian Red.

The siphons have been working great! Took me a number of attempts/hours to get the siphon to break but they have been working without any problem for about 6 hours now - lets hope it keeps going that way.



I also added a blue barrel filled with part of a filter block for extra filtration.

Placed a cover (90% shade cloth) over the tank.



Hopefully that will stop any algae blooms and keep these in:



Troutman delivered my Trout today - big thankyou for the great service!

Now the patience part really kicks in.

Nice one Arbe....

Where's your filter fitting into the system, is that in the fish tank?

Nice setup Arbe

Yeah, TM does a good job eh ?

Came though hedre at 10:30 and said he was seeing you this arvo !

How many trout did you get ?

The blue barrel filter sits between the tank and the sump - just like a growbed - but is fir filtration only. It is right inline of the air conditioning unit so I don't think any plants will grow there. Hopefully it will be beneficial.

I got 100 trout. TM said he would be here at 3:30 and arrived smack on time. Haven't seen the trout since as the water needs to clear from the gravel. It's getting there - just needs time and patience.

Just been out to check over things - siphons still working! Thankfully.

Are you working Saturday EB? May be coming to check out the shop again. Got permission from the boss - she wants to come as well.

Well done arbe, now the hard work pays off and the fun begins. I'm glad you got those siphons working they can be a real bugger sometimes.

From the look of the blue barrel biofilter (BBB) I think you have water coming in at the top and out the bottom via an SLO?? If this is right I think you should consider reversing the plumbing so that soilds get trapped in the bottom of the BBB so you get mechanical solids filtration as well as bio-filtration. Like this:



Because the BBB is before any of the GBs, if you plumb out of your main FT to GB distribution pipe (the 90mm one) from the bottom, I think most of your solids will end up in the BBB. If you can trap them there you can either remove them from the system via a tap at the bottom of the BBB, or add an airstone to the bottom to keep them circulating in oxygen rich water and you have a bio-digester?

Then you would have a mechanical filter, bio-filter and solids digester all in one unit.

Whadayarecon

I reckon thats how I would do it Simo

Simo,

I changed the plumbing around in the blue barrel filter. The water entering the blue barrel filter enters at the bottom and exits at the top.

I have also added an air stone to it. Five others have been added to the tank as well and are all connected to a 2100 litre per hour air pump.

Other work performed today was additional planting:


A dome built over the fish tank using 20mm pvc pipe:


The dome makes it much easier to check on the fish now.

Speaking of fish, the water is really clearing up and I can actually see them now. Gave them a light feed and they attacked it - the rest of the family liked the show they put on.

The water temp got up to 24 today which isn't too bad considering the tank cover has been off for most of it and I have been pumping to the growbeds all day. The fish dont seem too affected - I guess the additional aeration is helping.

Now I need to work out how the keep the dog off the growbeds. Any suggestions?